Facebook may help us all live longer. That is if we accept as many Facebook friend requests as possible.
This according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
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We know this sounds hard to believe. So many studies have shown how depressed going on Facebook can make us. The more that people see how everyone they went to school with has a better family life or a more successful career the more it is depressing.
And especially these days in the run up to the Presidential elections everyone keeps getting angry at at least someone for something that he posted or linked to on Facebook.
Well the study sates: “People who have stronger social networks live longer. However, can we say the same about online social networks? Here, we conduct such a study. Using public California vital records, we compare 12 million Facebook users to nonusers. More importantly, we also look within Facebook users to explore how online social interactions—reflecting both online and offline social activity—are associated with longevity. We find that Facebook users who accept more friendships have a lower risk of mortality, but there is no relationship for those who initiate more friendships. Mortality risk is lowest for those with high levels of offline social interaction and moderate levels of online social interaction.”
So just by connecting with other people on Facebook we can increase our social interactions. Social interaction, connections with other human beings, is a basic human instinct. And this instinct is fulfilled even through an on line relationship.
So we might all owe Facebook a debt of gratitude.
